Los Angeles daily herald., 1887-01-01


grades into the high-school class in book
keeping, and mastered the intricacies of
accounts side by side. Then Harmon, be-
ing very poor, entered q store, and being
very ambitious, worked hard, forcing his
way along from errand-boy to clerk, and
from clerk to book keeper, saving every
cent he could the while, until he was
able to go into the -four business for
himself. though IN modest way. with fair
hopes Of success ana d~f0rtUne aneno-
pretty far ahead it seemed sometimes.
Perhaps he had other hopes, to which sue
cess and fortune were but means; 1t Is
quite probable. Perhaps, too, Miss But
ler might have made shrewd guess as to
what they were. Nothing was ever said
about them, however; only Harmon
called regularly every Sunday evening
soon after tea, and was invariably much
surprised to find it 10 o'clock when he
had thought it hardly 8, and the morning
after one of these cef]s he used to go to
work like a young Hercules. Moreover,
whenever he came into the bank to make
a deposit, he generally staid little while
to talk-about business, presumably.
Yet he did not come in often on these
errands, am sorry to say, for, to tell the
truth, Harmon seldom had very much
to deposit. His capital, his market,
his profits and his bank account were
alike limited; in fact, the only thing he
had plenty Of were courage and worry.
Sometimes the crops would be SO large
that flour became a drug; then, just a.
he had sold out his stock at wAllnigh
microscopic margin, those western specu-
lators would suddenly rush up prices.
and he would have to replenish at ruin
Gus rates, besides having missed fine
~. Ro n n
he did, always proved to be the wrong
thing, although through no fault Of his.
Luck seemed to be against him.
Yes, luck was against him. in more
ways than one; for on certain Sunday
evening he walked into the Butler parloR
a. usual, to find that before-mentioned
cashier of the rival bank comfortably
seated there, engaged in an earnest con-
versation with Miss Nettie. The pair
seemed to have amicably arranged their
previous disputes and to be upon excel
lent terms, 80 far AZ Harmon could see.
He did not have a pleasant time. The
talk was largely SHOP" and although
Nettie changed the subject several times
in order to include him, she was evidently
interested in Mr.. Bonds explanation Of
certain business points, and somehow the
topic continually recurred, operating to
Harmon's exclusion from the chat. Mr.
Bond showed no intention Of leaving, be-
ing apparently well entertained where he
was; 80 that when Harmon departed, tho
intruder was still there. No, he did not
have pleasant time And, what was
worse, this trifing affair suggested some
extremely disagreeble thoughts. How
could he expect that others should not
appreciate Nettie as we'll As himself and
what could he do to prevent their ad-
vances, having not the slightest claim
upon herr Yet how could he venture to
attempt to establish such claim, stu
ated as he wasi He couldn't. Therefore
he came to the conclusion that something
must be done at once, that by great risks
he must attain great results, and hasten
the slow accumulation of dollar on dol
lar. Time was at once money and happi-
ness to him.
A few days later it became generally
known among Baalbec's merchants that
young Curtis was plunging SO recklessly
that make or break" was the sole altern-
ative for him. Nettie heard the directors
carelessly telling each other how, expect
ing an immediate advance, he had put
every dollar Of his capital into -four, pay
ing in draft at thirty days. If flour
went down, she heard them say, Curtis
uuSU lHIaiIuly SV up-dS IL uouI 0AO Ao
were the two ends of balance.
every imprudent young mau-very,"
said old President Parr, coming out into
the banking-room. "How does he stand
with us, Miss Butleri"
"He hasn't drawn his deposit, SIR" an.
swered Miss Butler, in rather unsteady
voice.
ave hold no notes of his, believei"
@No, SIR"
"Ahl that's we'll. Condition shaky-
very" And the president went back into
the private parlOr with an air of calm
resignation to the DEGREES Of commercial
Providence, II there are any such.
His cashier was extremely uncertain in
her behavior that day-almost cross-and
for the first time since she had been in
the institution her cash account wouldn't
balance.
Henceforward somebody in Baalbec
studied the provision market reports as
closely as did that young man whose
whole fate was involved in the rise or fall
of Golden Drop" and "Haxall." The re-
ports were not pleasant reading for either,
since, whatever else rose, -four did not,
but went down every day-only by frac-
tions, indeed, but still down; and any
decline meant failure to our merchant,
AOS ~ yOu SoA NV P0y 4uAoo sSAA yOuA
debts, you are just as much ruined as
though you couldn't pay any. There was no
hope of awaiting the chances Of delay.
That terrible draft would come, punctual
a. fate, on the 10th Of the next month,
and II not instantly honored-why, then
bankruptcy. And the worst Of it was
that Harmon seemed to have changed. He
made no more Sunday evening calls, and
Nettie rarely ever met him on the street.
When she happened to do SO, he was
friendly as ever, but reserved, and said
not q word about his previousPventure or
the crushing anxiety that weighed upon
him. Very likely he thought she knew
nothing of it. But about week before
the dreaded 10th he came into the bank
one morning with q look and manner
which told Nettie, the moment she saw
him, that his errand was to raise money.
Her accustomed eye had long since
learned to detect and classify the genus
borrower in all its different forms, espe-
cially in that Of the impecunious or en-
bayrassed loan-seeker, who dares not show
the eagerness he feels, and 10 more than
half certain that his application will bs
denied. The varieties Of this unfortunate
being are as numerous as human charac-
ters and temperaments. The assumed
confidence, like a thin crust over a seeth-
ing maelstrom of doubts and fears; the
0tudled carelessness OF address, con
stantly betrayed by some involuntary En-
posurs of unessiness, tho pitiably trans.
parent flctions imposing upon no one, and
uncomfOrtably known by their author